


Breathless and Wild

by Demerite



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghost Hunters, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, No Actual Ghosts Appear, Trespassing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-03-09 11:46:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18916342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demerite/pseuds/Demerite
Summary: "Come on, how was I supposed to know it was actually haunted?" Jim asks as they sprint around a corner.Leonard glares at him, "Oh, I don't know, maybe because that's your damn job?"





	Breathless and Wild

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aishahiwatari](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aishahiwatari/gifts).



> Aisha has been having a rough couple of days so I wrote this for her. 
> 
> Hope you like it darling, hand in there, you've nearly made it!

"Come on, how was I supposed to know it was _actually haunted?"_ Jim asks as they sprint around a corner. His eyes are alight with that particular, overexcited spark he only gets when they're in life-threatening danger, or being chased by angry landlords and security officers. Or, apparently, vengeful spirits, or whatever the heck had made the noise and started throwing shit at their heads. They hadn't stuck around to find out. 

Leonard glares at him, "Oh, I don't know, maybe because that's your damn job?" He snaps back, eyes up and tracking, looking for any sign of pursuit. Looks like they're in the clear for the moment, but things tend to change pretty fast in this business.

"Screw you," Jim says easily, skidding to a halt and leaning up against a wall, "Spock does the research, I just charge in head first with no regard to my self-preservation instincts."

"You don't _have_ self-preservation instincts." Leonard growls back, and Jim laughs, leaning into his space in a way that should feel crowding or obnoxious, but it's J _im,_ so it doesn't.

"Admit it, Bones," Jim says, voice low, "This is exciting."

"Not the word I would'a used." Leonard admits. He doesn't pull away, not even when he feels the displacement of air across his cheek as Jim laughs. They're so very close, Leonard can feel the heat and tension and nervous excitement coming off Jim in waves, can hear his still-short breaths from running, can smell his shampoo.

"Really?" Jim's eyes seem to almost shine in the low light, "What word _would_ you use then?" It's probably supposed to come out light and teasing, but the words are low and almost seductive to Leonard's ears. He _really_ wants to kiss the smug, delighted look off of Jim's face right about now. They're so close. It wouldn't be difficult. He'd just have to lean in a little, get a hand around the back of Jim's neck and kiss him, hard and deep until Jim is pressed up against him, kissing him back and letting out the little whimpers the Leonard _knows_ he can't suppress. He and Jim have lived practically in each other's pockets for long enough now that Leonard knows exactly what sounds Jim makes during sex, what he sounds like when he comes, and he wants, oh he _wants_ so desperately to be the one wringing those sounds from him.

Jim is still staring at him, still very much in his space, and Leonard decides fuck it, it's 2 in the goddamn morning and they're somewhere that if they get caught, they'll get arrested _again -_ and Nyota will probably leave them in custody until the very last minute before she shows up with bail because she's just _like that_ when they get arrested - and apparently they've just been chased by a severely vengeful spirit, and if he wants to kiss Jim he damn well will.

So he does.

It's exactly as good as he'd imagined it, and so much better. Jim goes still for a second, just long enough for Leonard to think he's fucked all this up and Jim isn't interested in him after all, but before he can process all this and pull away, Jim's arms wrap tight around his neck, and he's kissing Leonard for all he's worth. It's delightful, Jim's hands are grabbing at his hair and his mouth is hot against Leonard's, his lips opening and his tongue swiping across Leonard's bottom lip.

There's a loud crash behind them.

Instantly, Jim springs back, already putting himself between Leonard and whatever the noise had been, facing outwards, all senses on alert, ready for whatever is coming their way.

"We probably should have kept running." He admits, and Leonard grunts a reply, already on the lookout for danger. There's nothing obvious yet, but then again, there'd been nothing obvious the last time, right up until there had been. "Come on, it looks clear." Jim leads them through the hallway, skirting around a section of fallen-in ceiling. He's got his torch up, illuminating their way, aided by the shafts of moonlight that are streaming in through the windows and the holes in the roof. Leonard follows close behind him.

He's not scared. Scared isn't something he _does_ , not of ghosts or spirits or whatever the hell else they encounter in this job, but that doesn't mean he isn't going to stick close to Jim, close enough that they're almost touching as their navigate their way towards the main doors at the end of the hall.

The next sound comes from somewhere in front of them and to the right. It's a low, rattling, gurgling snarl of a noise, and Leonard can't place it. Jim jumps a little, reaching out and grabbing at Leonard's forearm, his grip tight. Under any other circumstances, Leonard would laugh a little, and accuse Jim of being scared, but the sound had made him jump too, so he doesn't remark on it, and he lets Jim keep holding onto him.

There's no repeat of the sound, and Jim relaxes a little bit. His grip on Leonard's arm loosens, and he slides his hand downwards, tangling with fingers with Leonard's and pulling him along down the corridor.

"Let's go." He says, voice steady.

Leonard wholeheartedly agrees. He doesn't have psychic powers - no matter what Jim insists, he's not psychic, just observant - but even he feels distinctly unwelcome here, and he'd like to be gone sooner, rather than later. Jim leads them around a few piles of rubble. They make it to the door, and Jim turns a bright grin in Leonard's direction.

"See?" He says, "We made it." He shoves the door open, and they tumble out into pale moonlight of the grounds. As one, they start running, the torch Leonard is carrying doing a shitty job of illuminating their path, but it's better than nothing, and they're close to the fence now, Jim laughing breathlessly as he forges ahead, looking for the hole in the wire they'd found a week earlier, and the path back through the trees beyond it. The car isn't far from there. Behind him, Leonard is torn between joining in on the laughter and waiting until they're safe inside a locked vehicle before he celebrates.

"Come on!" Jim ducks through the gap in the fence, having to crouch low to duck around jagged edges. He holds the wire up and Leonard follows him through, but even so he feels it scrape over the back of his jacket, and then they're clear of the fence and running through the trees, headed for the end of the dirt road and the car and then lights and life and people beyond.

Jim gets to the car first, but he waits for Leonard before throwing himself into the driver's seat, not bothering with a seatbelt before the key's in the ignition and the engine splutters to life. Jim shoves the car into gear and they take off out of the clearing in a spray of gravel and leaves, headlights cutting through the darkness the tree canopy provides. Leonard double-checks that the doors are locked, then lets himself relax a little with a heavy sigh. He glances across at Jim, who is grinning back at him.

"Watch the road." He grumbles, and Jim lets out a low laugh, but turns his attention to driving.

A few minutes pass in silence.

"So, are we uh, gonna talk about that kiss?" Jim asks once they've turned out onto the main highway.

Leonard glances sharply up at him. "Sure." He says, trying to keep his tone as neutral as he can. It doesn't pay to hope, he knows already. He knows himself, and he knows Jim; he knows they can't work together. Jim...doesn't _do_ commitment. He's told Leonard so time and time again, usually half-drunk, often in the early hours of the morning.

"If I don't promise anything, I don't have to expect anything in return." He'd said once, "That way, I'm never disappointed."

And Leonard...well commitment is the only thing he knows how to do. He'd been so hopelessly, foolishly committed to Jocelyn that he hadn't seen the obvious until it was right in front of his face and she'd told him she was leaving. He _knows_ that he's all-or-nothing when it comes to love, which is why, for the last two years, he's kept quiet. No point in saying anything when he _knows_ Jim would run at the merest suggestion of something serious. He'd much rather keep Jim as a friend.

"Bones?"

Leonard realises that Jim is looking at him expectantly, and he shakes his head to clear it. "It doesn't have to mean anything." He says. Offering Jim an out, if he wants to take it.

"And if I want it to mean something?" Jim's voice is quiet, and when Leonard looks over at him, his gaze is fixed firmly on the road ahead. "What would happen then?"

Leonard doesn't entirely know what to say to that. He'd assumed that Jim wouldn't want to make anything of it, would want to write it off as a kiss in the heat of the moment, adrenaline-fulled and delirious, and move on. _He'd_ been prepared to move on. But if there's even a chance here, he knows he has to at least _try_. "Well, in that case," He says, trying to keep his tone casual, "You'd have to take me to dinner."

He's not expecting Jim to agree. He's expecting a laugh, or maybe some kind of joke.

"Okay." Jim says, a grin breaking over his face. In the moment, he's more impossibly beautiful than Leonard had ever realised.

"Okay?" Leonard asks, because he can't help himself apparently. He just wants to be sure that this is something Jim actually wants. They're almost home, and he feels like it's important that they finish this conversation before they get there.

"Okay." Jim repeats. They're pulling up in front of their building, the car's engine goes quiet and Jim turns the headlights off. The street outside is dark and silent. Jim takes the key from the ignition and reaches for the door handle.

Leonard's hand on his arm stops him. "Jim." He says, because he needs Jim to _understand_ , "This...this isn't something casual for me, you know that, right?"

Jim goes quiet, and for a moment Leonard thinks he might run. He's seen Jim do that before, head for the hills when things got too serious, but he had to be honest. Jim draws in a slow breath, "Why do you assume it would be for me?" he asks softly, and he sounds _hurt_.

"We've lived in the same apartment for three years," Leonard points out, "I know you're not..you don't..." He sighs heavily, "I don't think I've seen you with the same person twice is all I'm sayin', and there's nothing wrong with that, but...that's not how I work." He finishes lamely. He's doing an awful job at this.

"I know, Bones." Jim murmurs. His hand comes up to cover Leonard's where it's still resting on his arm, "But we both know there's a difference between sleeping with someone and wanting a relationship with them." He looks up at Leonard then, "The people I've slept with, I never mislead any of them about what I wanted." He says, "And I wouldn't do that to you either, Bones. I don't want to just sleep with you. I want to date you, I want to take you out to dinner, and hold your hand, and kiss you, and sleep next to you, and - " He stops talking, but only because Leonard has learnt across into his space and kissed him.

Jim lets out a breathy little sigh, one hand grabbing the front of Leonard's shirt to hold him in place as he kisses back, kisses him again and again until they're both breathless and laughing.

"Thank fucking Christ." Jim manages, "I was running out of things to say that weren't dirty."

Leonard raises an eyebrow at him, "Didn't I _just_ say you had to buy me dinner first?" He asks, trying and failing to hide a smile.

Jim winks at him, and the ridiculousness of the gesture makes him laugh aloud.

"Come on." Leonard says, opening his door, "Let's do some of that sleeping you talked about."

Grinning, delighted, incandescent, Jim follows. 

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell with me on [Tumblr](https://demerite.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
